G.11 graft union issues

Ever since I put my first g.11 rootstock in the ground I've had issues keeping these trees alive. Something happens to the graft union of the tree and dieback from the rootstock and scion occur. Once the cambium dies back, rot sets in and thats all she wrote. My orchard is South East facing, soil drains very well. I keep things pretty clean. These trees are nursery bought. I've attached an image of a g.11 in my orchard that I just discovered had this issue. There was a lot of suckering, however the tree looks great.

I'm curious if anyone else has anyone else had issues like this with g.11.



Zone 6b
Kutztown PA

I've realized that the trees that are okay on this and my g.30 stocks are bench grafts. The ones I'm having issues with seem to all be chip bud grafts. If the graft has not calloused over then it dies back in a few years.

A chip bud that does not callous over is essentially dead within a month or so. It will not begin to leaf out and then die back later. The chip either takes or it doesn't?

Pat

Brampton Lake Orchards

Zone 4a Upper Michigan

By callous over, I am referring to the cut made above the chip bud. It is visible in my picture. All of the 1-2 year old trees I've gotten from the nursery has a stump from the rootstock exposed, this is not calloused over. This is where the dieback occurs and rots get in.

looking at that does make me sad. I do my own grafting, and I do not know what caused that specific issue, but if you are not stuck on NEEDING the specific growth habit the g11, and you want to try to save the tree, bury the tree to above the graft union and see if you can get it to root in.

Tom Kleffman
currently building a fruit orchard from scratch on the Bayfield Peninsula of Wisconsin, 4 miles south of Lake Superior, dead center of the snow belt, zone 5.